A primarily residential upper middle class area, Burnside has little to no industrial activity and a small commercial sector.

[citation needed] It was one of the first areas outside of Adelaide to be settled, with the early villages of Magill, Burnside, Beaumont and Glen Osmond now inner suburbs.

[2] Prior to the British colonisation of South Australia in 1836, Burnside was inhabited by the Kaurna, an Aboriginal people who lived around the creeks of the River Torrens during the summer months and in the Adelaide Hills during the wintertime.

[3] The 1960s brought Burnside Library, built next to the Council chambers, and the George Bolton Swimming Centre in Hazelwood Park.

Wineries, mining and olive groves were the mainstay of an early Burnside economy; Glen Osmond boasted substantial mineral deposits and world-class vineyards were established at Magill.

With new suburbs being gazetted in the 20th century, the Burnside Council undertook ambitious tree-planting, beautification and conservation schemes to slow and then reverse the negative impact on the natural environment.

[6] In February 2020, it won a Tree Cities of the World designation from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Arbor Day Foundation.

For State Government Burnside is part of the Electoral Districts of Adelaide, Bragg, Morialta, Hartley, Heysen, Norwood and Unley.

Liberal strength is strongest in the wealthy hills suburbs to the south-east around Beaumont and weakest around Norwood in the north where the Labor Party dominates.

Burnside forms the southern part of the Federal Division of Sturt, which takes in much of Adelaide's eastern suburbs, stretching from Paradise to Glen Osmond.

An inquiry was launched in 2009 by the then state Local Government Minister Gail Gago into allegations of "harassment, bullying and misconduct" by then members of the City Council.

[15] A Supreme Court ruling on 27 May 2011, found that the report could be partially released, after material related to parts of the terms of reference deemed inappropriate was redacted.

The present library building was built in 2000,[17] and is situated adjacent to the Council offices and is part of the civic centre at 401 Greenhill Road, Tusmore.

This would indicate a structure primarily of mature families and retirees, young adults are hugely unrepresented (although this is not unique to Burnside, this phenomenon is common throughout the majority of the Adelaide region); the 18-24 age group suffered a loss of 330 people between 1996 and 2001.

In decreasing order, the foreign-born population was from the United Kingdom, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, China and South Africa.

These patterns are broadly in-line with that of Australia as a whole; they reflect traditional immigration from Commonwealth countries such as the United Kingdom and New Zealand, later waves of Mediterranean migrants and more recent arrivals from Asia.

Common across Australia and many developed countries, there has been a substantial decline in religiosity; this is evident but less marked in Burnside; 17.7% of residents profess no religious belief (atheism, agnosticism, etc.).

The ten strongest religions/denominations in decreasing order are: Catholic, Anglican, Uniting, Orthodox, Lutheran, Baptist, Buddhism, Presbyterian, Judaism and Hinduism.

Catholicism is unique for its marked increase (575 persons) in believers between 1996 and 2001, most other religions' numbers remained stable or saw a slight decrease.

[citation needed] It does however contain a sizeable amount of service industry; high-technology and commercial offices line the streets opposite the Adelaide park lands.

Its beginnings can be traced back to 1898; it was first established as the South Australian School of Mines and Industries on North Terrace, its original buildings there are now part of the University of Adelaide campus.

Otto Georg Ludwig van Rieben offered his Attunga property for use as a community hospital free of charge in 1944.

The council had first suggested building a community hospital in August 1943 as part of its Post-War Reconstruction and Development Committee; it was to cost no more than 100,000 pounds and be a memorial to honour Burnside's war dead.

Glynburn and Fullarton Roads provide secondary north–south corridors, the former runs close to the foothills and alleviates congestion on Portrush while the latter forms part of Adelaide's inner bypass route.

Burnside residents rely overwhelmingly on cars as a means to travel to work; 64.3% drive their own vehicle and 5.6% are a regular passenger in one.

With the advent of widespread automobile travel in the mid-20th century there was a tendency for motorists to use local roads in suburbs adjacent to the CBD for their commute home.

With enlarged market gardens upstream in the Adelaide Hills the water level and quality dropped and this was no longer feasible.